This exhibition focuses on emotions, though it also presents knowledge – a wealth of suppressed, forgotten, and unknown information. Yet above all, it returns us to the uncertainty and fears of the 1990s. This is a new language meant to encourage reflection. “It wouldn’t be a maze if there were no way out,” says Bogdan Bogdanović, implying that an exit exists – but it is up to each of us, individually and as a society, to find it. This message was shared at today’s press conference announcing the opening of the exhibition “The Labyrinth of the nineties”.
Historian Dubravka Stojanović, one of the exhibition’s authors, reflected on the journey of this initiative so far and announced significant future plans. “The first exhibition “The labyrinth of the 90s” was held in Belgrade in 2023. It was a pilot exhibition – to see how it resonates with the public and what the level of interest would be. Last year, in May, it was set up at the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, where around 7,000 visitors saw it during the summer. The reactions were powerful and emotional. Each new installation, including this one in Podgorica, gives us a chance to rethink the exhibition—to see which artifacts communicate with the audience and what needs to be added or changed. That way, the exhibition is always new and alive”, explained Dubravka Stojanović. She also announced the opening of the Museum of the 90s in Belgrade on 2 June, which will have a permanent exhibition.
“The labyrinth of the nineties as a theme stays with us – it just won’t let go. Even young people today feel that burden, through similar ideologies, figures, and problems they struggle against. This exhibition is an attempt to portray that decade differently – with depth and complexity – not just through pain, but also through humor, nightlife, and fragments of happiness. It’s an exhibition for those who lived through the 1990s and for those who are just getting to know them. It opens space for new questions, for regional understanding, and for a different public dialogue about the legacy of the nineties” said Igor Štiks, writer and one of the exhibition’s authors. “The exhibition particularly speaks to young people, but it’s not meant only for them. It’s also for those who grew up during that time with the feeling that a possible life was taken from them—a life that could have happened but instead went down a different and unwanted path”, Štiks emphasized.
“I am very grateful to the authors and the CCE for recognizing us as partners, and especially happy that we will host what I can already freely call the exhibition of the year. This coincides with the 75th anniversary of our institution and becomes a highlight of our celebration”, said Ivana Ćupić, Director of the Public Institution Museums and Galleries of Podgorica. “I first saw “The labyinth of the nineties” in Sarajevo. I went there specifically to see it, because I felt the topic deeply concerns all of us. The 1990s may be formally behind us, but for those of us who were entering high school at the time, it was the period when we started to form our first critical thoughts. I secretly wished that The Maze of the 90s would come to our space too. Now that it’s happening, I truly feel satisfied”, Ćupić added.
The exhibition opening will take place on Tuesday, 13 May at 20:00, after will be open to the public daily (except Mondays) at the Modern Gallery, from 9:00 to 20:00, until September 13, 2025.
The exhibition “The Labyrinth of the nineties” in Podgorica is organized by the M90 Foundation and Cultural Front from Serbia, in cooperation with the Centre for Civic Education (CCE) from Montenegro. The exhibition is part of the project “Museum of the 90s – A Regional Center for Reconciliation, Education, and Future Cooperation”, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands through the MATRA program, the European Fund for the Balkans (EFB), and the Shared Horizons project, financed by the Republic of France and implemented by Expertise France, Groupe AFD. The content of this exhibition is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the donors.
Ivana Matanović, Programme Associate